Rare & Valuable 1996 Dimes Worth Money You Should Be Looking For

1996 Dime Value Guide

Did you recently find a 1996 dime and want to know if it’s worth more than face value?

There are rare and valuable 1996 dimes worth hundreds of dollars apiece. Some are worth even more.

Having said that, the vast majority of 1996 Roosevelt dimes out there in circulation are worth just their face value of 10 cents.

The secret to finding the valuable 1996 dimes is knowing EXACTLY what you should be looking for on dimes from this year.

I’m going to tell you what details you want to see on a 1996 dime — and if yours is worth the big bucks!

Valuable Details To Look For On 1996 Dimes

Most 1996 dimes look just like Roosevelt dimes from other years. This can make it somewhat difficult to know when you have a rare and valuable 1996 dime.

That is, unless you know exactly what to look for on 1996 dimes that make them valuable.

Here are the things that you need to keep an eye on…

Condition

The grade, or condition of your coin can really make or break its value.

If you find a worn 1996 dime with no errors or other varieties, then it’s worth its face value of just 10 cents and is safe to spend.

However, uncirculated 1996 dimes are usually worth at least a small premium over face value. And depending on how well preserved the specimen is OR how much strike detail it has… it could possibly be worth much more.

Some of the most valuable 1996 Roosevelt dimes are those that are in virtually perfect condition — or close to that.

Full Bands

Take a moment to examine your 1996 Roosevelt dime and what do you see?

The design by John R. Sinnock was originally released in 1946 and hadn’t changed much between its debut and the time the 1996 Roosevelt dime was being struck.

On the obverse, or “heads side,” is a portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. On the reverse, or “tails side,” is a flaming torch that symbolize liberty. Flanking the torch are an olive branch and an oak branch. The olive branch represents peace, while the oak embodies strength and independence.

Now, take a closer look at the torch. Notice that it has two horizontal bands? You’ll see one near the top of the torch and another near the bottom. The middle of those bands should have thick line that divides each of the two bands into two segments.

If you have an uncirculated Roosevelt dime and see two full split bands — the line on each band is complete — you’ve got a keeper!

You see, many (if not most) Roosevelt dimes aren’t fully struck. Mind you, this isn’t intentional. It’s more a function of the manufacturing imperfections that can come with striking tens of thousands of coins at rapid-fire speed. Sometimes the tiny details aren’t completely struck up due to the dies that impart the design getting overworn from use, the hardness of the coin blank (or planchet), or less-than-ideal striking pressure.

Whatever the case, a Roosevelt dime intended for circulation that has full split bands can be very rare and valuable. But… it MUST be uncirculated (not show any signs of wear) for it to qualify for the Full Split Bands grade designation.

You might be able to find uncirculated 1996 dimes looking through rolls of coins. (You can purchase rolls of 50 dimes from a bank for their total face value of $5.)

Here’s a video I made about coin roll searching:

Mint Marks

The mintmark on a coin tells you which U.S. Mint facility struck that specimen.

In the case of 1996 Roosevelt dimes, you’re going to find one of 4 possible mintmarks on the obverse — just above the right side of the date.

The 4 mintmarks on 1996 dimes are:

• P — Philadelphia Mint
• D — Denver Mint
• S — San Francisco Mint
• W — West Point Mint

You’re most likely to find 1996 Roosevelt dimes in your pocket change with either the “P” or “D” mintmark. That’s because the Philadelphia and Denver Mints were the two mints that produced all of the Roosevelt dimes intended for circulation that year. Over 2.8 billion Roosevelt dimes were struck for circulation in 1996. The Philadelphia Mint made 1,421,163,000, while the Denver Mint produced 1,400,300,000.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Mint made 1,750,244 clad proofs and 775,021 silver proofs. These were packaged in proof sets, which were sold directly to coin collectors by mail order and at the U.S. Mint gift shops. There’s a very slim chance that you could find one of these proof coins in circulation — IF someone removed their proof coin from the proof set packaging and then spent it as money.

The West Point Mint struck 1,457,000 business strike examples with a similar finish as the Philadelphia and Denver dimes. The 1996-W dime was included as a freebie in 1996 uncirculated mint sets to honor the 50th anniversary of the Roosevelt dime.

The 1996-W Roosevelt dimes are especially scarce — because they were sold only in the mint sets AND less than 1.5 million were struck. That’s a relatively small number for a modern United States coin, making the 1996-W dime a semi-key coin.

Errors & Varieties

Roosevelt dimes with mint-made errors or other oddities can be worth some big money today.

These errors can include:

• Off-center strikes
• Die breaks
• Broad strikes
• And a variety of other striking anomalies

Some of the more valuable errors and varieties are off-metal strikes and doubled dies — which are also quite rare.

All 1996 Dime Values

So, what are your 1996 Roosevelt dimes worth?

As we’ve already gone over, worn examples of the 1996 dime with no obvious errors or varieties are worth just their face value.

However, values for these 1996 dimes go well beyond 10 cents:

• Uncirculated strikes
• Proofs
• Errors
• Varieties

Here’s a rundown on what those 1996 dimes are worth:

• 1996-P uncirculated dime — 20 to 50+ cents
• 1996-D uncirculated dime — 20 to 50+ cents
• 1996-S proof dime — $2 to $5+
• 1996-W uncirculated dime — $15 to $25+

The Most Valuable 1996 Dimes

Remember I was talking about those Full Split Bands dimes being worth a lot of money?

Well, they’re among the most valuable 1996 dimes out there.

Check out these most valuable 1996 Full Split Bands auction prices:

• 1996-P dime graded Mint State-68 Full Split Bands — $1,385
• 1996-D dime graded Mint State-68 Full Split Bands — $750
• 1996-W dime graded Mint State-69 Full Split Bands — $411.25

NOTE: There’s no auction price for a Full Split Band 1996-S Roosevelt dime because it’s a proof, and proofs are fully struck as a rule.

The 1996 dime worth the most money certainly has a crazy story to tell, too…

It’s a 1996-P dime that was double struck, with the first strike off center and made on a 1995 dime planchet.

WOW, right?

Well, this valuable 1996 dime error looks as wild as it sounds. It sold for $2,070 in a 2011 auction!